Research Article

Deficient Purposeful Use of Forepaws in Female Mice Modelling Rett Syndrome

Figure 1

Skilled and purposeful forepaw use and coordination in the Morag test and the Capellini handling task. In the Capellini handling task, MeCP2-308 Het female mice (Het) needed more time to consume a piece of pasta compared to wild-type mice (wt) (a). Het mice also showed an atypical handling pattern compared to wt (b), as demonstrated by a higher number of asymmetrical holds (sum of grasp paw and one paw hold positions) and a significantly lower number of symmetrical holds (the mouse held the piece of pasta with both forepaws using a symmetrical position). In the Morag test, Het needed more time to collect 30 rewards (total duration) (d) and performed a higher number of total number of errors (sum of incorrect reachings and incorrect graspings) compared to wt controls (c). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM. .
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